Tuesday

Why We Can't Tolerate Po*n at the Checkout Lane

My heart was heavy as I laid down to go to sleep last night. Unfortunately, it was because of my trip earlier in the evening to our local Whole Foods store. My family and I had run in quickly to pick up some food for an out of town guest that is coming over, and as we approached the check out line, my nine year old son and I saw an extremely inappropriate magazine at the same time. My heart hurt as he quickly looked away.Mind you, this was not just any inappropriate magazine where a woman had her cleavage showing for all to see. This was a side profile of a woman completely naked on top and simply wearing a bikini bottom. Not one to be content with flipping the magazine over, I quickly gathered the magazines together, had my husband finish checking out and took them up to the service desk. (This is the second time in the last two months where a naked woman was displayed on a magazine at the checkout line of a grocery store and I took the magazine up to the service desk. I tell you this not to applaud myself, but to let you know, sin is becoming more and more brazen. What was once shamefully kept in a closet is now displayed for all to see.)My heart was on fire that night, and again last night, as I was once again so deeply reminded that Satan desires to steal the hearts of our sons and husbands.But, you know, it's not just about my sons or my husband.It's about my daughter. too.I want her to know that she is valued for more than her body. She is valued because she is created by God and He has infinite love for her because she is made in His image.And it's about me, too.I want to know, and to believe, that my worth is far more than beautiful, blemish and wrinkle free skin. My beauty is found in the hands that serve my family. My beauty is found in the words that encourage others. My beauty is found in the prayers on the behalf of others. My beauty is found in who I am; not what I look like.To take the holiness of a naked body and desecrate it by displaying it for all the world to see is foolishness. The woman sharing the nakedness of her body is sharing the nakedness of her soul, and as Ann Voskamp said recently, "Your naked body deserves the honor of being shared only with someone who is covenanted to never stop loving your naked soul."As a Christian, I am warned to take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness, but instead, to rebuke and expose them. I am to make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. (Ephesians 5:11ff)Therefore, I will not stand by and just let sin trample my family.As my husband and I were talking about this incident, I shared with him that while it is important for our children to see their mother take a stand against this, it is infinitely more important for them to see their father take a stand.

Our sons need to see their dad fighting back against the evil that tears daily at his soul.Our daughter needs to see her father choose to value a person for who they are rather than what they look like. When our men lead in the fight against this evil, it will speak volumes to their wives, their sons, and their daughters. And to those propagating this message.And so, after we finished our shopping and loaded everyone up into the van, I told our children that while we live in a wicked world, that doesn't mean we tolerate evil. We don't have to let it rule and we can fight against it.My husband reminded us of what Edmund Burke once said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."Oh, how I pray that good fathers and husbands and good wives and mothers would take a stand for righteousness.If you, too, want to stand with us in this fight, here are a few things you can do:

If you see this magazine in your local Whole Foods store, please call corporate office to let them know you find this unacceptable. After all, we are at a grocery store, not a po*n shop. Corporate Office: (512) 477-4455Update: Victory! I just got a call from the Manager at our local Whole Foods market and they removed all of the magazines! NOT ONLY THAT, they talked to the distributor and said they will no longer accept magazines of any kind of people who are not clothed on top. Hallelujah!!!

Speak to your local Whole Foods Manager (or any other grocery store) that carries this magazine and urge them to remove it from the magazine racks.

Contact the magazine directly letting them know you find this display unacceptable.

If you are married, discuss the issue with your husband. After my husband and talked about this, we have decided that should this situation arise again, we will cover the magazine and he will be the one to let the manager know we find this type of material unacceptable.

Above all else, pray! Pray daily for your husband, your sons, your brothers, your fathers, your daughters, your sisters. Pray that God would give them victory in the battles for their soul. The war will rage until our King returns, but we must not passively lay down our weapons while we wait. Stand firm in your faith, my friends!

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12 comments:

Oh my! My heart breaks over this. Can you tell me what the magazine was? I'm just wondering if it's one my grocery store normally carries or not. I go shopping by myself and avoid looking at the magazines myself. You can email me at cajohannes22@gmail.com

Christine, I couldn't remember from last night, but when the Manager called me back after I wrote the post, he said it was Shape. If you see it, I hope that you can say something too and that the Manager will remove it. Thanks!!!

I have never thought about taking the magazines to a service spdesk/manager and asking them to remove it! What an amazing thing to have that store no longer carry those magazines!!!! Good work! Your whole post was great but I especially loved the thought about husbands and fathers standing up and doing something!!! We need more men standing up for the hard and beautiful right instead of letting evil take over our homes, families, and country! :)

There has been SO many of these situations across grocery stores and such... not only is it offensive, but it makes everyone uncomfortable. We have more than once brought inappropriate magazines to the attention of customer service, however, never have they taken action (ie: removing the magazines). So I applaud your grocery store, for the extent they went to clear this issue! :)

What a beautiful post! Thank you for making the store aware of this. I like shopping at Trader Joe's and other stores that do not have magazines, but that is not always possible to shop there. Thank you for your stand. :)

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